Contents

Corporate History

The Early Years (1923–1928)

Walt and Roy Disney began their careers as animators making flip-books in their uncle's garage, occasionally receiving a penny or two from passerby. In 1923, Walt created Alice's Wonderland, a twelve minute short film consisting of six minutes of unique footage. The plot circled around a young girl named Alice who dreams about living in a magical, cartoon world, creating a seemingly upbeat story. In the end, however, she falls off a cliff and dies. The film landed Walt and Roy a job producing animated comedies for Magaret J. Winkler, after which Walt created a new character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a cute, little bunny who never seemed to lose a game of blackjack. The cartoon, however, was so boring that everyone on Walt's staff left his animation company and began working for Winkler's husband.

This guy may or may not have co-created Mickey Mouse. Ignore him please.

The Golden Years (1928–1954)

In 1928, after the failure of his earlier creation, Walt Disney gave birth to Disney's now infamous mascot, Mickey Mouse, a half-naked rat that somehow appeals to children. Though Mickey Mouse was in a way Disney's first original character,[1] he was nowhere near the best,[2] similar to how Superman was the first superhero, yet The Green Hornet is by far the crème de la crème. Nevertheless, the creation of Mickey marked the beginning of Disney's success.

On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died of complications relating to lung cancer. Though the general public, at first, could not decide whether this was a good or bad thing, it was eventually concluded that Walt's death was indeed a sad event, as Disney really seemed to go downhill after he passed away. Roy Disney died five years later, marking the end of his life.

The Relatively Bad Years (1972–1988)

Throughout the the 70s, Disney released many instant classics such as Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Take Down (1979), and The Black Hole (1979), whose names alone have become iconic. Sadly, the quality of Disney products began to decrease as the company got older, similar to how the radioactive carbon-14 isotope decays over time, halving its mass every 5,730±40 years. 1983 marked the premier of Disney Channel, essentially a poor man's Nickelodeon[4] and possibly the most horrid thing Disney had ever created.[5] The network was originally a means of promoting the company and exposing children to mediocre foreign films.

The Relatively Good Years (1989–1999)

In the 1980s, Disney got a new CEO named Michael Eisner. Under him, Disney entered what many refer to as the "Disney Renaissance", leading to the production of such films as The Lion King (1994) and The Little Mermaid (1989). During this time, Disney Channel decided to change its direction and produce what are called "Disney Channel Original Series." As a 90s kid, I can tell you that back in the 90s and early 2000s, DCOSs used to have soul and felt real and taught life lessons and stuff. Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, Phil of the Future; those shows were my childhood, mannnn. Your generation is stuck with shitty shows like Austin and Ally and Shake It Up. Where did it all go wrong?

Towards the end of the 90s, Eisner turned into a money-grubbing hog, and Disney started to go down the tubes.

Controversies

Originality

There have been some complaints regarding the originality of many Disney films, considering that almost every good movie produced by Disney was based on a previous short story, fairy tale, novel, or play. However, recent documents have shown that the supposed "literary sources" that inspired these films were indeed written by Walt and Roy's ancestors, showing that they had true Disney origins. Through complex DNA analysis, the Brothers Grimm, the original authors of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, were found to be Walt's great uncles, initially referred to as the Brothers Disney, and Peter Pan was found to be Walt's great, great grandfather, who had written the screenplay for the film Peter Pan as a sort of autobiography.

Subliminal Messages

On several occasions, conspiracy theorists and religious organizations have accused Disney of inserting subliminal messages into their feature films. The Lion King, for example, contains a scene in which Simba lies down on the edge of a cliff, throwing up a cloud of dust which supposedly spelled out the letters S-E-X. Parents were outraged, claiming that the letters were an acronym for Start Eating Xanax and that animators had slipped them in after being paid off by drug companies. Other films such as The Little Mermaid have also been accused of containing subliminal messages. During one Little Mermaid scene, a bishop marrying Prince Edward and Ursula is supposedly seen sporting a bit of an erection. Catholic pro-life lobby group, American Life League issued a boycott on Disney, claiming that showing a sexually-aroused bishop in any movie, let alone one targeted at children, is a mockery of the Catholic Church and its practice of celibacy.